Personal Trainer, L1 CrossFit Trainer, Housewife, Food Lover, Realist

Hello foam roller, goodbye knots

A wee while back I posted some info on foam rolling onto my Facebook page. Since then I’ve encouraged several clients to treat themselves to a foam roller and incorporate it into their regime, so I thought I’d repost. The foam roller is used for self-myofascial release – self massage to you and I! It’s an inexpensive tool that will have a huge impact on improving your mobility. By foam rolling and applying gentle force across the body, you will loosen up tight knotted areas that may impact your range of motion and flexibility. Exercise, sitting at a desk, poor posture and old injuries can and will lead to adhesions (tight spots). This will affect how other muscles in the body function, causing pain and eventually injury. Foam rolling is highly effective before and after exercise. Target the entire body starting with the calves, working your way up, roll back and forth 10x – hamstrings, quads, glutes, back, lats and shoulders. When you come across a tender spot, hold the pressure there for AT LEAST 60 SECONDS. It will hurt to begin with but I promise you it will become less painful the more you do it. It only takes a few minutes each day and can be done whilst watching TV! It feels awkward to begin with but there’s really no wrong way to foam roll – just avoid going over your knees.

My shoulders and back house rock solid knots from poor posture and no doubt years in a desk job. This has helped with pain relief and has improved my mobility massively. There are great youtube videos on techniques if you’re stuck. If you need any further help, let me know!!